About this blog

My name is Bill Hirt and I'm a candidate to be a Representative from the 48th district in the Washington State legislature. My candidacy stems from concern the legislature is not properly overseeing the WSDOT and Sound Transit East Link light rail program. I believe East Link will be a disaster for the entire eastside. ST will spend 5-6 billion on a transportation project that will increase, not decrease cross-lake congestion, violates federal environmental laws, devastates a beautiful part of residential Bellevue, creates havoc in Bellevue's central business district, and does absolutely nothing to alleviate congestion on 1-90 and 405. The only winners with East Link are the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington and their labor unions.

This blog is an attempt to get more public awareness of these concerns. Many of the articles are from 3 years of failed efforts to persuade the Bellevue City Council, King County Council, east side legislators, media, and other organizations to stop this debacle. I have no illusions about being elected. My hope is voters from throughout the east side will read of my candidacy and visit this Web site. If they don't find them persuasive I know at least I tried.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Sound Transit Cost Savings Charade

One of the more absurd Sound Transit activities is their highly
publicized “attempt” to come up with savings that supposedly will reduce Bellevue
City costs.Sound Transit gets
about 40% of their funds from taxes generated on the east side.Only a small portion of that money has
been spent on eastside improvements as supposedly mandated.Instead they’ve used the funds to pay
for Central Link, the most expensive light rail system in history.They’re continuing to use our taxes to fund their University Link and a streetcar system in Seattle.

Any rationale distribution of eastside taxes would have
provided more than enough to pay for whichever route Bellevue wanted
approaching downtown as well as how and where the tunnel underneath the city
business district should be built.Instead we have the spectacle of Sound Transit selecting the route and
demanding that Bellevue come up with additional funds to pay for any deviations
from their choice such as the tunnel.

What is equally absurd is the apparent willingness of the
Bellevue City Council to go along with this charade.Sound Transit’s 2008 DEIS lists 9 permits or approvals
they need from the BCC.Sound
Transits planned route devastates a part of the Mercer Slough Park, a violation of federal environmental law (United States code Sec 138).The council surely has no legal
requirement to grant these permits or accede to ST’s extortion, particularly in
view of their recent budget problems that have forced them to delay needed
projects for years.

Unfortunately their willingness to go along with this charade pales in comparison to their failure to use their permitting process to stop East Link altogether.

About Me

My last elective position was class president for 25 “class of ’57” seniors in Armstrong, Iowa. I received an MS in engineering at ISU, worked at Boeing for 36 years before retiring in 1998. My wife and I moved into our current home in Bellevue in 1967 where we raised two daughters. Three years of unsuccessful attempts to persuade BCC to block EL are available on “extended session” meeting minutes. Copies of many were sent to all the media outlets, legislators, and others to no avail. I’m hoping this Web site will convince east side residents to query their own legislators.